Beavers (and bikinis)

S.Kalyanaraman kalyan99 at NETSCAPE.NET
Sun Apr 23 19:40:02 UTC 2000


Michael Witzel <witzel at FAS.HARVARD.EDU> wrote: [snip]> Indo-European did not
exist at that time, and Vedic/Avestan even less. Thus > no IE/Avestan beavers.
[snip]

What is the word for a bikini in IE, Avestan and Vedic?

ABAN YASHT ("Hymn to the Waters") Translated by James Darmesteter. (From
Sacred Books of the East, American Edition, 1898.)  

129. 'She is clothed with garments of beaver, Ardvi Sura Anahita; with the
skin of thirty beavers of those that bear four young ones, that are the finest
kind of beavers; for the skin of the beaver that lives in water is the
finest-colored of all skins, and when worked at the right time it shines to
the eye with full sheen of silver and gold.  

"...it is perfectly possible that emigrants from India transferred their term
for "mongoose" to the first beavers which they encountered in Russia or other
mongoose�free territory." 
http://members.xoom.com/KoenraadElst/articles/urheimat2.html

hri_ka = mongoose (Skt.); is a cognate attested in IE? See cognates in INDIC
languages applied to a squirrel [A beaver looks like a large
squirrel!http://tier.net/images/BEAVER.GIF]: 

hirkoli id. (Pe.); siruni, sirur.i, herur.i id. (Kui); her'ur.i, hir'uni id.
(Kuwi); cikrod.a id. (Skt.); cikro_d.amu (Te.); ci_khur (H.)(DEDR 2518).
[http://sarasvati.simplenet.com/Indian%20Lexicon/squirrel.htm]

5904.Mongoose: maggu_s'a mongoose (Skt.); madgus'a (Skt.); mam.gu_sa, muggasa,
muggusu,mam.kusa (Pkt.); ma~gu_s, mu~gu_s (H.); ma~gu_s, mu~gas, mu~gu_s
(M.)(CDIAL 9702). an:gu_s.a an ichneumon; a mungoose (Skt.lex.) mu_n:ka_
mongoose, viverra ichneumon (Ta.); mun.i, mun:gisi,mun:guli, mun:gili
mun:gali, mun:guri (Ka.); mun:gili, mun:guli, mun:gil (Tu.); mun:gi,mun:gisa
(Te.); mun:gus (Kol.); mun.s'ak, mun:gus (Nk.); mun.ipo_tu (Ga.); mungus,
mun:gus,mun.si, mugus, muggu_s (Go.); mun:gi, mun:gi elka (Kond.a); mun:gi
orli (Kuwi); madgus'a,maggus'a (Skt.); mam.gusa, muggasa, muggusu (Pkt.);
mu~gu_s, ma~gu_s (H.); mu~gu_s, mu~gas(M.); mugat.i (Si.)(DEDR 4900). nakula,
mun:gusa mongoose (Pali.lex.)
[Indian Lexicon: http://sarasvati.simplenet.com/Indian%20Lexicon/mongoose.htm]


Regards, Dr. S. Kalyanaraman

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